Suggestions for stickied FAQ

Meta
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Continuing the discussion from What categories do we need?. Please use this thread to post questions/answers that could go in a stickied FAQ.

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Overall, I think there could be a more positive way to answer those questions but I wonder if there isnā€™t a way to answer thoughts like that by talking about the protocol/concept itself.
I think a very basic FAQ is necessary to start with: an overview of the network, what safecoins are and how they work within the network, how builders can get involved now, how farmers can get involved eventually and addresses frequent questions about the crowdsale and msafe.

Hereā€™s my version (info from Maidsafe wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MaidSafe and David Irvineā€™s blog http://metaquestions.me/ and my own understanding):

  1. What is MaidSafe? MaidSafe is an open-source program that enables a decentralized internet platform, called the SAFE Network. MaidSafe autonomously handles static and dynamic data including communications. Data stored on the network is either encrypted or cryptographically signed by MaidSafe connected applications (clients). In either case the network itself cannot decrypt any of the data. MaidSafe also distributes all data on the network without the need for centralized servers. The idea was originally conceived by David Irvine who leads a small team building the base layer services. The system source code is open source and hosted on GitHub ( MaidSafe Ā· GitHub ).
  2. How does Maidsafe work? The MaidSafe system turns all connected devices into SAFE Network nodes that collectively store data for all MaidSafe users. MaidSafe allows public and private cloud data storage and processing within the SAFE Network. Data storage is automatically decentralized. This means a
    web application, using MaidSafe does not store its userā€™s data on any central server, rather the data is spread across many disks and devices owned and managed by many different users. No one person or corporation has an intact copy of a userā€™s file.
  3. What does the term MaidSafe mean or stand for? MAID = Massive Array of Internet Disks; SAFE = Secure Access For Everyone
  4. What is Safecoin? Safecoin Is a coin that is generated and protected by the SAFE network and stays on the SAFE network (It of course can be copied as it is data, but off-network copies are of no value as a coin). Wallets will actually ask the network what their balance is and allow transactions to happen. The network can confirm and exchange coin ownership via a digitally signed authority from the coins last owner. This operation is ā€˜network atomicā€™ which basically means the network will make sure all copies updateĀ to show the transaction. This is a different approach to the ā€˜blockchainā€™ mechanism employed by bitcoin.
    The SAFE network allows many millions of transactions per second and the larger the network the more transactions per second can be executed. Safecoin only holds the last and current owner. It does this to make sure the current owner has signed authority from the last owner to take ownership. This allows coins to be transferred between people very easily and without delay. Ā Safecoins use a proof of resource to create coins and this is a system that is waste free, so the proof is that a node or application is providing immediate value to society.
  5. How do I get Safecoins? The initial way to do this was in the crowdsale of maidsafecoin (a proxy coin through the Mastercoin protocol). However since the crowdsale has ended, the only opportunity to obtain safecoin is by purchasing maidsafecoin on an exchange, building projects using the SAFE network api/sustaining the core libaries or joining the safe network as a ā€œfarmerā€ by allocating a portion of hard drive storage space to the network.
  6. How do I get involved? Start or join a project building applications to run on top of the network. There is a lot of opportunity to become one of the first people working to enable a truly decentralized Internet. A lot is already happening and itā€™s a perfect time to jump in! Check the developement and strategy categories for existing opportunities or post a new topic to look for more. Open and decentralized projects and business models preferred! :slight_smile:
  7. What happened with the crowdsale? Itā€™s evident that the crowdsale of maidsafecoin (MSAFE) did not go as planned. The MaidSafe and Mastercoin teams collaborated on a crowdsale of Safecoins through the proxy coin, MSAFE which was created using the Mastercoin protocol. You could participate in the fundraiser with bitcoin (BTC) or mastercoin (MSC) and in order to pre-sell these coins to raise funds, some sort of fixed price was needed. Both prices were fixed too low for the actual demand (MSC, moreso) and created a scramble to get in on what many were seeing as a great investment. It definitely wasnā€™t the most ideal circumstance for a crowdsale initially thought to last around 30 days. Unfortunately, lots of individuals didnā€™t get to buy in (most of those being mastercoin buyers) and this situation could have been better prepared for. Those who did get an opportunity to purchase MSAFE have received the proxy tokens.
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@ioptio, thatā€™s great, thanks for writing it down! I will use this for a first version of an FAQ, along with the introduction video and some links. Will post it later today.

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Great job, yes agreed that the tone of the comments from the dev blog was terse, but felt that the info was good. Thanks for putting together a much better first draftā€¦

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Canā€™t wait. This is incredible stuff and itā€™s all very inspiring to watch. Thank you very much.

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Thanks for putting this together! Would be great to mention the other communities, in case someone comes in a bit lost:

Where else can I discuss Maidsafe / Safecoin / Safe Core Development?

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